Thursday, December 21, 2006

The idea

I posted this on another blog a while back, but am moving this to a new blog:

Well, I have had this idea brewing for quite some time now. And I think it's time I got started. I want to chronicle my experiences in this blog.

My idea came to me when I realized that I was not the only mom who doesn't want to leave her babies, but still wants to have a career and needs to make money for the family. I started to hear other mothers talk about how they wished they could find a job they could bring the kids to, or how they wished they could work from home, or how they wished they could find affordable and quality daycare for their kids.

Somehow, the USA is behind many other countries when it comes to options for mothers. It is difficult to survive on one income in many parts of the country, yet, it is difficult to be a working mother in this country as well. Many governments provide maternity leave for working mothers. In many countries, it is culturally acceptable for women to bring children to work.

It makes sense to accommodate mothers, doesn't it? After all, if Mama ain't happy, ain't nobody happy! Consider the consequences where mothers cannot achieve their career dreams or provide financially for their families. How can an unhappy and stressed out mother raise happy and secure children? How can unhappy and insecure children grow up to be productive, creative, and fulfilled adults?

So I thought, what if I start a non-profit that will help moms to be able to fulfill their career goals and financial needs, while not requiring them to cast their parenting ideals to the side?

I think that I can start a non-profit that will:

1) Operate a daycare center

The center would offer top-notch childcare for low-income prices. Employees could bring their children to work with them. They would be paid a realistic living wage and be offered full medical coverage for their families.

2) Operate a baby and consignment store

Baby items would be sold to raise money for the NP. Crafty work-at-home moms could sell their goods in the store for a full profit.

3) Assist in business start-ups

Moms who had business ideas could receive legal assistance, business advice, and grants to start up their own businesses.

4) Assist in other community needs as they arise

These are just my starting ideas, so I can't tell what other ideas would arise over the course of time.

So, at this point, all I have are ideas. I have a list of things to do:

-Check out books about forming non-profits
-Check out grant-writing books
-Check out business books
-Read them...
-Find out costs, steps for forming non-profits in OR

So I guess I'll be back when I've done some of those things.

2 comments:

Korin said...

You KNOW I'm in. one way or another... I'm in :)

Candice said...

Yay, that's awesome.